


Daddy's Rules for Dating

by Amaria_Anna_D



Category: Daredevil (TV), Punisher (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 20:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8414860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaria_Anna_D/pseuds/Amaria_Anna_D
Summary: Day 7: Frank the single dad has the hots for Matt.Frank can’t stop his son from pestering their upstairs neighbor, but maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.





	

Daddy’s Rules For Dating

 Rule 1: Choose Your Wing-man Wisely.

 

Frank didn’t have time to date—barely had enough time to discreetly handle things himself in the shower, if he was honest about it. In his life, there was always something going on that demanded his attention. Whether it was Frankie’s gymnastics class or Lisa’s piano lessons or a million other things that came along with being a single dad, there was never a time for him to go out looking for someone. The funny part about it was that he didn’t actually mind it all that much. His first marriage hadn’t been terrible, but he wasn’t exactly dying to enter into that institution again. On top of that, he didn’t want to have to go through the hoops that it would take to try slyly hook up with someone. No, Frank didn’t really see himself dating anytime soon. But that didn’t mean he didn’t occasionally like to think about what it would be like with a certain upstairs neighbor.

When the Castles moved into their apartment, there had been quite a bit of growing pains. While the kids had out grown their old swing set for the most part, they weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of giving up their yard. Frankie had taken the loss of their little backyard fort especially hard, and there had been more than one crying fit over it. Lisa, on the other hand, had been more concerned that Max, their dog, would miss having grass of his own to water. She seemed to think that Frank had chosen apartment living without any concern for their poor pup—paying the extra fees in their rent to keep him didn’t count in, in her opinion. Just when Frank was ready to pull his hair out, the kids met Matt Murdock from 4C above them.

Frankie had been the one to gravitate toward the man. Through his own coke-bottle thick glasses, he’d spotted Matt’s cane and instantly been curious. Born with a form of infantile glaucoma, Frankie was just barely bordering on the edge of legal blindness. He’d been only seven months old when Frank and Maria got the diagnosis, and they’d been constantly vigilant when it came to his treatments since that day. The fact that as much of Frankie’s sight had been saved thus far had been nothing short of a miracle. Still there was always the threat of complications that hung over their heads. Though it wasn’t something they often discussed with him, in hindsight, it was pretty naive to imagine that Frankie wouldn’t recognize that someday he could go blind.

On day that Frankie walked right up to Matt and started asking questions, Frank had been struggling to hold Max’s leash and about six plastic grocery bags in each hand while he unlocked their door. He hadn’t exactly noticed at first when his son set down his own load and wandered towards the stairwell that Matt had been climbing up. At first, Frank had that momentary panic that every parent feels when they look around and realize their kid isn’t right where they should be. Not giving a fuck if the milk in one of the bags spoiled, he dropped the bags in the entry way and let Max loose before frantically heading for the stairwell. When he heard Frankie’s voice from just above him, he let out a sigh of relief—and then he heard just what his son was asking their new neighbor.

“Were you scared when you first couldn’t see?” Frankie asked curiously.

The then unnamed neighbor didn’t seem to mind the rude question. “Of course,” the man answered. “I wasn’t much older than you back then, and I was _very_ scared. But then I started working with a special therapist who helped me adjust. Now, I don’t think there’s anything scary about it at all.”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Frank rounded the stairs. Frankie looked up at him with that face he made when he knew he’d done something wrong. “What have we talked about when it comes to running off like that, kid?” Frank asked his son, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Sorry, Dad,” the eight year old muttered—obviously not that sorry at all.

“Go down stairs and put the milk away. You and I will have a talk in a bit,” Frank said with a heavy sigh. He watched his son skip down the stairs before turning to the man still standing in the hallway. “Sorry if my son bothered you.”

“Not at all,” the blind man replied quickly. “Kids are curious about anything that’s different. I don’t mind answering questions.”

“Yeah, well… I guess it’s one way to meet the neighbors. I’m Frank Castle. My kids and I just moved in downstairs.”

Holding out his hand toward Frank, the man smiled warmly, and for the first time, Frank realized how fucking good looking his new neighbor was. He was thin but athletically built with dark hair and pale, inviting skin. “Matt Murdock,” he returned. “Frankie seems like he probably keeps you pretty busy, I imagine.”

“You have no idea,” Frank confirmed with a chuckle. “Kid surprises me every damn day.”

“Not to pry, but he mentioned he can’t see very well either...” Matt probed lightly.

“Infantile glaucoma. It could be much worse, but we’ve been able to manage it for the most part,” Frank said. He’d answered that question so many times over the years. It had been worse when Frankie had been very small and just had surgery or was wearing quarter inch thick glasses as a toddler, but there were still times when he had to explain why his son didn’t seem to see things coming from certain angles or talk to teachers about what Frankie would need in the classroom. In fact, he’d answered the same questions over and over again to the point that he almost could have the conversation taped.

Rather than the obligatory murmurs of sympathy that he got at this point in the talk, Matt simply nodded. “So he has more reason than most kids to be curious.”

“I guess so.” Frank shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to think of a future where Frankie would need a cane like the one in Matt’s grasp. In a lot of ways, it was just easier to think of his son as more nearsighted than most or nominally visually impaired.

“I get the feeling I’m the first blind adult he’s really talked to.” Again, Matt went straight to the heart of the matter.

Frank swallowed hard. “Yeah. Never really thought about it, but I suppose you are. Right now, things look good when it comes to that front so we don’t see the need to focus on it.”

Nodding again, Matt gave him a half smile that implied that he didn’t agree with that assessment, but kept his mouth shut about it.

“Look,” Frank said, “I should get going. I have groceries to put away.”

After that, Matt became one of Frankie’s favorite people, and Lisa soon followed her baby brother’s lead. The Castle kids somehow had this sixth sense when it came to Matt. They would manage to always know when he was coming or going from his apartment and catch him on the stairs. Most guys Frank knew would have been somewhat annoyed if the neighbor kids were constantly on his heels at the end of a long work day, but Matt usually took the time to chat with the kids for a few minutes. On occasion Frankie would even go knock on Matt’s door to bother him about something or other. Though Frank had offered to stop them from annoying him, Matt had just smiled and told him that he liked kids.

Right around that time was when Frank went from just lusting after his neighbor’s delectable ass to actually thinking about what it might be like to spend time with him somewhere other than the hallway. Once or twice he even considered asking if Matt wanted to grab a coffee, but life always seemed to get in the way. Frank told himself could start dating again when Lisa was old enough to watch her kid brother—so another four years or so. Until then, his right hand would have to suffice in the shower, and he would have to live with just imagining what it would be like to spend an evening with Matt.

Summer faded into fall quicker than Frank would have liked that year. It seemed like one minute he was back to school shopping and the next he was getting the kids ready to fly out to Phoenix to spend Thanksgiving break with their mother. While he was going to miss his kids every day they were gone, Frank also would be lying to say that he wouldn’t enjoy a little down time.

The week before the kids were set to leave, they decided to have a Thanksgiving of their own. Frank was no Julia Child, but he was a decent enough cook. At first, it was just going to be a roast chicken and veggies, but Lisa was dead set on him making them a turkey with stuffing “the right way” before they left. She claimed that her mom’s version made from soda crackers was gross. Then Frank chimed in saying that if they were going to have stuffing they needed to have cranberry salad the way Nona Castle used to make it. The next thing Frank knew he was cooking a full on Thanksgiving feast complete with an apple pie. He didn’t actually mind doing it all, and he reasoned that it would give him enough left overs to keep him out of the kitchen for a few days.

The morning of their Thanksgiving, Frankie slipped away not long after he ate his cereal. Lisa was lounging on the couch watching re-runs with Max curled on her feet. At first neither of them even noticed the youngest Castle was gone. It wasn’t until Frank carried a basket full of laundry into his son’s room that he realized Frankie wasn’t there. He rolled his eyes, but didn’t panic. By now, he had a sneaking suspicion where his son was anytime something like this happened. Rather than have a heart attack, he simply headed upstairs and knocked on the door of apartment 4C.

As he suspected, when Matt opened the door, Frank could see Frankie’s dark head peering around the corner of the entry way behind his friend. “I think you have something of mine,” Frank grumbled in way of greeting.

Matt laughed and opened the door wider. “I was wondering how long it would take before you realized you had an escapee.”

“Frankie, what have we talked about?”

Frank’s son looked up at him with an angelic smile and the devil gleaming at him through his glasses. “I know, Dad. I should have told you, but I wanted to invite Matt to dinner with us before you could say no.”

Frank had the sudden urge to bang his head off of the door frame behind him. While he’d resigned himself to not being able to ask Matt out on a date, the fact that his eight year old had all but done it for him was nothing short of embarrassing. He bit the inside of his lip and resisted the urge to haul Frankie up the stairs without another word. “What makes you think I would have said no?” he asked instead.

“Because you’re not very good at making friends,” the boy said with a kind of honesty that only a kid could get away with.

“Point taken,” Frank groaned. “Now head back home and leave Matt alone. I am sure he has better things to do with his day.”

“Bye Matt!” Frankie called rushing past his father. He gave Frank an impish grin as he passed. Sometimes the little shit was too smart for his own good.

“Sorry about that,” Frank ground out once they were alone. “You’re more than welcome to come to dinner, though. I cooked enough for half the damn city.”

Matt grinned. “Frankie has been raving about your gravy all morning. As tempting as it sounds, I don’t want to intrude.”

“Bullshit,” Frank argued. “You’ve put up with an invasion from my kids, I think you owe me a little intrusion at this point. Besides, we’d love to have you.”

“Well, it has been a very long time since I’ve had an old fashioned Thanksgiving dinner. Can I bring a bottle of wine?” Matt asked. His smile was nothing short of stunning.

“Sounds good. Come by around seven?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Frank stumbled back up the stairs half in a daze. It wasn’t exactly a date, but it was the closest thing he’d had since marrying Maria over a decade ago. He couldn’t believe that his son was the best wing man he’d had in years. With a laugh, he almost considered not grounding the kid until he was twenty for running out again.

 

 

 


End file.
